The invention relates to camera systems which may be adapted for various uses.
As vehicles have become relatively more sophisticated, substantial development work has occurred with respect to safety features for vehicles. For example, one problem which has existed for a substantial period of time relates to the capability of a driver to maneuver a vehicle relative to external obstacles. For this reason, side and rear view mirrors have been in use for a number of years. However, dependent upon the type, size and overall shape of a vehicle, mirrors having image surfaces visual to a driver often cannot “pick up” images of obstacles presenting safety concerns for the driver. That is, vehicular mirrors often must be positioned on vehicles in a manner so that proverbial “blind spots” still occur for the driver. For a number of various types of vehicles, such as semitrailer trucks, waste hauling trucks and the like, these blind spots can be relatively large.
To alleviate these problems which cannot readily be solved by vehicle mirror design, it has become known to employ what could be characterized as “real time” cameras positioned at various locations on a vehicle. Such cameras, for example, may be directed to a lower rear area behind a vehicle which often represents a blind spot with respect to side and rear view mirrors. These video cameras are often directly connected to video monitors within the cab or cockpit of the vehicle, in a manner such that the monitors are readily visible to the driver. During a backup or similar procedures, these cameras can facilitate maneuvering of the vehicle by the driver so as to avoid external obstacles.
However, problems may exist with respect to known types of video cameras.